5x7" Bellows design and instructions

dogzbum · Sep 26, 2006

Here is a 5x7" bellows design (with instructions) that should enable you to make a field camera bellows with little difficulty. The design allows for a 5x7" rear and 3.5x3.5" front standard. This is big enough for most lenses using Copal 0 or 1 shutters. The maximum extension is around 20".

Due to posting limitations the .vsd (Microsoft Visio Drawing) file had to be renamed to a .pdf (Don't bother trying to open with Acrobat Reader). Save the file somewere and rename it to a .vsd extension.

This is FREE for personal use and can be redistributed in original unmodified form. You can of course send me cash, gold or Dimezone-S if you really like it and feel guilty about receiving it for free. :rolleyes:

I take no responsibility for fingers glued together or veterinarian bills related to surgically removing your own / wifes / girlfriends cat or dog from the half constructed bellows. No virus was present in the file when I uploaded it.

Cheers!
dogzbum

argus · Sep 29, 2006

I can't open the PDF, says it's badly encoded.

Greetings.
G

rwyoung · Sep 29, 2006

He said it was a renamed Visio drawing, not a real PDF. Rename it to end in .VSD and hope you have some software that can open Visio drawings.

By the way, dogzbum, can Visio export it as a PDF in the first place? I have minimized the number of Microsoft software products I use and have no way to open a .VSD file.

Jerevan · Sep 29, 2006

I found something that can convert .vsd files into .pdf but it seems to need this Visio stuff to be able to convert it correctly: http://www.processtext.com/abcvisio.html

Renaming it to .vsd doesn't work for me - it still wants to open Acrobat and maintains it's a bad .pdf file.

Bob F. · Sep 30, 2006

PC users can download a viewer at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...5C-FED1-46CF-BD53-DA23635AB2DF&displaylang=en

It opens in I.E. and you will need to use Zoom (ALT F6) to read it...

Cheers, Bob.

Greg_E · Sep 30, 2006

Could you explain why the stiffeners are different sizes? 52 and 53 are much larger than 50 and 51. I've never made a bellows before, so I have no idea why you might need to have the different sizes. Just trying to add to my knowledge base.

BTW: Bob thanks for the viewer!

Colin Graham · Oct 1, 2006

There's a nice bellows-making link here that might help with some of the overall concepts if you've never made one before. I've used the basic idea to make straight and tapered and tapered rectangular bellows from 4x5 to 5x12.

dogzbum · Oct 2, 2006

Greg_E said:
Could you explain why the stiffeners are different sizes? 52 and 53 are much larger than 50 and 51.

Greg, There are two variables in the stiffener sizes. I will try and explain both.
(1) The longer dimension (call it length) reduces gradually from rear to front. This is because the width of the bellows is greater at the rear than the front. The taper here is from 7" down to 3.5". Hence higher numbered strips from a given side of the bellows (ie 72--> 49, 24-->1, etc) are wider than lower numbered strips.
(2) The width of the stiffeners is one of two fixed widths. This depends on whether they go towards a crest or root. To reduce the size (from rear to front) of a zig-zag the zag must be less than the zig :confused: So you have a small width toward a 'crest' and a larger width toward a 'root'. I cannot really put this into words but an analogy may help. When walking if you go up a little hill then down a big hill then up a little hill, then down a big hill, (etcetera), then you will end up at a lower point than you started at. ( Note that I truly believe the world is flat). I will try and ascii it below. (remember: little 'up', big 'down', etc)

/.\
....\/\
........\/\
............\

............/
......../\/
..../\/
\./

Cheers!
PAUL

dogzbum · Oct 2, 2006

rwyoung said:
By the way, dogzbum, can Visio export it as a PDF in the first place? I have minimized the number of Microsoft software products I use and have no way to open a .VSD file.

Visio can save as nearly everything except pdf
I tried saving it as jpeg but the file was too large for APUG upload
I too try and minimise contributions to Mr Gates' overexpansive bank balance but I find Visio is a useful tool that fits in between a painting program and a full blown CAD package.

I recommend downloading the viewer that Bob F. mentioned.

Greg_E · Oct 2, 2006

Paul,
OK, I think I understand (sort of). Until I try to build one I'll probably remain a little foggy. That's kind of the way I do things, foggy idea and make adjustments as I build.

I assume that the size of the larger stiffeners is the difference between the two sizes (front and rear attachments) divided by the number of folds (plus some kind of fudge factor).

I ran across this application over the weekend:
http://www.cadvance.com/65form.htm
I haven't received the serial number yet, but it might make sharing designs a little easier for everyone using Windows. And best of all is it's FREE!

barryjyoung · Oct 5, 2006

I can highly recommend CADopia 6 available as a free fully functional download at http://www.cadopia.com/
This is a VERY powerful product which will make 2D and 3D drawings with wire frame, solids and variable shading. It is very similar to AutoCAD so the things you learn with this are portable.

Good Luck

Greg_E · Oct 5, 2006

I'm going to give that a try... still no number for the other product.

Greg_E · Oct 7, 2006

The number for CADvance finally arrived... It would be good enough if it actually snapped to the grid. I was going to try CADopia, but noticed that it expires. I'll probably end up with something like DesignCAD.

5x7" Bellows design and instructions

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